Story and photos by Jon Stalnaker, AKA The Studebaker Dude
Some people fuss when it rains, but I don’t expect to hear much whining about it after the record-setting, triple-digit-heat summer we’ve had here in Oklahoma. Except maybe from my dog, PeeWee, whose routine centers around necessary relief disguised as a morning walk. She’s not too keen on walking in the rain; Gene Kelly she is not.
Even though it was pouring this morning, she put up with a brisk walk to take care of business. She is now zonked, curled up in her cozy, warm bed in my office. She even covered herself with her blanket. She got a few raindrops on her, but she wasn’t drenched. We got her walk done before the downpour that was expected. We’ve learned to trust our local meteorologists; they really know their stuff.
This monster heat wave did some damage to our landscape, killing some of our beautiful plants and making a mess of our sometimes-beautiful lawn. A sprinkler system has been on our list, and I think this year’s extreme temperatures have pushed it up the list a bit. Maybe next year.
To prepare for next year’s planting, we’re going to do some more hardscaping. We had a ring of sandstone placed around the big tree in the front. It was what we uncovered when we leveled out the front lawn earlier this year. I like the look of it, but it’s a pain to mow around. We’re having a block wall built around our big trees, similar to what we built in the backyard. Clean and level, it will be easier to maintain the trim look I like. We’ll have a few other things done to clean up the edges in the backyard, too.
We do have “a guy,” and we like his work. I still like mowing and edging my yard, but I have difficulty getting down on my knees to pull weeds. I suppose the time will come when I need professional help with all of my yardwork. I’m somewhat already there, but I intend to do as much as I can for as long as I can.
I have been a lover of rainy days my whole life. I remember walking home from school as a child still in the single digits and how much I enjoyed walking in the gutters that were flowing with rainwater. I wasn’t wearing galoshes; I just enjoyed getting my shoes soaking wet by the time I got home. Back in those days, kids didn’t have several pairs of shoes, so I took mine off and set them in front of the wall furnace in the living room. They were always ready to go by the next day.
You might ask, “What did you wear for the rest of the day?” I remember going barefoot more than I remember having two pairs of shoes. I don’t look back at my childhood and see myself as a poor child. I just remember going barefoot often. I liked not wearing shoes.
While we enjoy the rain for a few days, it could interfere with the hardscape work planned for the next couple of days. Armando is scheduled to work on our yard this Thursday and Friday. I’ve already told him he can reschedule if the weather interferes with the concrete work.
I’m not in a hurry for much of anything anymore. Being retired makes scheduling things so much easier. And if we get lots of rain, it’s no problem for us; you see, we don’t HAVE to go anywhere. We’re safe during heavy rain because we don’t have to leave our house on the top of the hill. I enjoy telling people that we don’t have to worry about flooding for 39 days and 39 nights.
Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain…